Children's Home run by Paramount Children Care LTD in Leicester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 1 Registered provider: Paramount Children Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately run and provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home. Three children had moved out.

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Information about this children’s home

There is no registered manager in post. The post for a registered manager has been vacant since November 2024. The manager has yet to submit a complete application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to a serious safeguarding concern and a complaint being received following this inspection, a further visit was scheduled for 1 May 2025 to gather additional evidence. The findings from this visit have informed the inspection judgement. Two children have moved out of the home since the initial inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspectors were aware during this inspection that serious child protection allegations were being investigated by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate allegations of this kind, actions taken by the setting in response to the allegations were considered alongside other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform inspectors’ judgements.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor, and they are not making progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 2 Date of last inspection: 22 May 2024

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/05/2024 Full Good 29/11/2023 Full Good 30/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/01/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Poor safeguarding practices have significantly affected children's progress and experiences, putting them at risk of significant harm. The physical environment is poor, this is because parts of the home have been damaged, and some rooms look sparse. Repairs and redecoration are currently being undertaken.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home environment is not welcoming or inviting. This is because staff are unable to prevent the children from causing damage to the home on a regular basis. Children have gained access to the office several times by breaking down the door. Although efforts are taken by the manager to repair damage once it happens, staff are unable to prevent the repeated incidents of damage. The door is currently secure and is in the process of being fully reinforced by metal plates to prevent this from happening again.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite providing support to children to maintain their bedrooms, staff members fail to demonstrate sufficient professional curiosity when they discover items that could potentially pose a risk. For instance, one child had medicine in their bedroom that was not permitted to be there. There were signs of a child's potential regression in another bedroom. One child’s shower has not been maintained to a hygienic standard, and there is a loose tile on the floor. One child had a cigarette packet in their bedroom. Although staff encourage children not to smoke indoors, fire risks remain.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There are concerns about some children’s misuse of illegal substances, and one child is actively misusing substances in the home. A social worker raised a concern about children smoking substances at the home without staff challenging this. There are ineffective plans in place to address and educate children about the dangers and risks associated with these substances. There is a lack of professional curiosity about how and where children are accessing these substances, resulting in risks to children’s health and welfare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The police found one child in the local area under the influence of illegal substances. The child required medical attention due to the significant concerns about the child’s health. Staff were unaware the child had left the home, despite the supervision arrangements in place, and had recorded in documents that the child was in the home. This does not provide reassurance that staff are adequately supervising children in their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

While one child has consistent education arrangements and attends regularly, the other three children do not. Staff are not supporting the children's access to education effectively. There is a lack of routine in the home. Children will often stay awake during the night and not wake up until late morning. As a result, children lack the motivation to engage in education. There are currently no interim arrangements to support one child in finding an educational placement. Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 4 Some of the staff caring for the children are new to them, especially at night. Due to staff not having consistent trusted relationships with children, they are unable to implement effective boundaries and routines for them. This limits children’s opportunities to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are supported in seeking medical attention when required. One child had never been to see a doctor without their parent and has recently attended with a member of staff. This child spoke about the possibility of accessing therapy. This shows some progress for this child.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Staff, including those working as on-call managers during the weekend, have failed to follow the safeguarding policies and procedures in place. This has led to delays in significant safeguarding concerns being reported to external and internal child protection professionals.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not been professionally curious when children and staff have raised concerns about staff practices. This has left children at risk of harm because these concerns have initially not been adequately considered and addressed.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Children regularly go missing from the home. When children go missing, the staff follow them and actively search the local area. Leaders and managers do not consistently use professional curiosity when considering risks relating to child exploitation or the actual whereabouts of children when they are absent from home. For example, such information is not considered in risk management plans or on the management evaluation form. One staff member spoken to had limited understanding of the risks to children when away from the home.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

In March 2025, Ofsted received information about a serious incident involving all four children. Children gained access to car keys and drove the home’s car while going missing from the home during the night. The night staff were unable to prevent the children from taking the car keys or driving the car. No child experienced harm. However, the potential harm could have been significant. The investigation into the incident is incomplete, and the manager remains unsure as to how the children obtained the car keys. This is poor practice.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Staff are not equipped to manage and challenge children’s behaviour effectively. There have been several serious incidents when children have physically harmed staff. There was also an incident where a child was hurt, and staff could not encourage them to seek medical treatment. The frequency of these incidents is affecting staff’s ability to keep the children and themselves safe. Staff have called the police to assist in dangerous situations. Staff say that they have sometimes felt frightened about managing children’s behaviour.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Effective action is not being taken to keep children safe. For example, a knife went missing from the home, which has not been located. Despite this, staff are not Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 5 consistently carrying out sharps checks as directed by the manager. The manager is also not ensuring that staff are carrying out sharps checks. Therefore, if a knife were to go missing again, staff may not know the time that it went missing. This practice puts children and staff at an increased risk of harm.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

The processes for recording and administering medication for children are poor. This includes medication counts not consistently being carried out by staff.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Alarms are used on the children’s bedroom doors. This practice is not currently under regular review to assess whether this is still required. There is no review that details the rationale for the continuing use of the door alarms.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers are ineffective and do not provide sufficient management oversight and scrutiny of the home. There are important records that do not have management oversight. For example, serious behavioural incidents are not regularly reviewed and evaluated by leaders and managers. Children’s risk assessments are not effectively reviewed and do not consistently link to other plans, such as health plans. For example, although substance misuse is a known risk, there is limited information in the child’s plans about how this should be managed and the child supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, changes in the management team and staff turnover have led to instability in the home. This has greatly affected the level of care offered to the children. There is a high level of incidents in the home, and staff say they feel they are ‘firefighting’. Staff have said that the home feels disorganised, and team morale is low.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The core staff team is not at capacity and is further reduced due to staff turnover and suspensions following allegations made by children. Although staff are used from a sister home in the hope of creating some stability for children, this is not sustainable. Agency staff are used at night, when children are most vulnerable due to incidents of going missing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings are taking place. However, the effectiveness of these meetings without a stable core staff team is limited. Not all staff receive regular supervision, which is a missed opportunity for discussing staff practice and any concerns they may have about the home or children. Staff are confident to raise issues during supervision; however, concerns are not always responded to effectively. There is no clear planning for staff when leaders and managers raise practice concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff report to have experienced a good induction process with access to relevant training. Steps are taken to ensure that members of staff who work at the home are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Stakeholder feedback is mixed. One social worker does not feel that the home meets the needs of one child. Another social worker feels that staff have helped one child see important people in their lives. Several professionals raised that they do not receive Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 6 regular communication from the manager after children have been involved in serious incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager is taking some steps to try and address concerns. However, the action being taken is not working because children are not making progress, and safety concerns remain. The current situation is not sustainable. Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 7

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(d)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that there are robust quality assurance and monitoring systems in place, which are regularly used and recorded. 20 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 20 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 8 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager providing children with an environment that is physically safe and supports their well- being.

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Requirement Due date

Risks management plans must be inclusive of all risks for children. Staff should follow these plans so that consistent care can be provided to children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the employment of any person on a temporary basis at the children’s home does not prevent children from receiving such continuity of care as is reasonable to meet their needs. (Regulation 31 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers should ensure that staff understand the day-to-day needs of the children and that children receive a consistent level of care that helps them make progress. 20 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 20 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 9 help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b) (2)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, children should be helped to manage behaviours before the point of escalation and crisis to prevent assaults and injuries to staff and children . The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring that staff are consistently delivering care to children that helps them make progress. This includes having effective day-to-day routines in place and helping children develop good routines at night. 20 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iv)(x))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring that children are helped to make progress in education by having 20 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 10 established routines in place. Leaders and managers should create a positive culture in the home around education that inspires children to attend their education provision and make progress.

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Requirement Due date

When children do not have education plans, leaders and managers should ensure that there are interim arrangements in place that motivate children to learn.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that staff record and administer medication in accordance with regulation. Management oversight of medication practice should be vigilant. 20 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the responsible individual taking ownership of the shortfalls in children’s care. The responsible individual should improve practice to support children’s well- being and safety. 20 May 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the use of door alarms is regularly reviewed and that the justification for their continued use is clearly stated in the children’s plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 11 it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Paramount Children Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Para Group House, 6 to 11 Riley Street, Willenhall WV13 1RH

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Inspector

Becky Thompson, Social Care Inspector Sarah Orriss, Regulatory Inspector Manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2627088 13 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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